Russia's Expanding Army Fails to Deliver Breakthrough Against Ukraine

Russia dramatically expanded its armed forces after the 2022 invasion, growing toward a force size that reached roughly 700,000–1.5 million in various forms and creating new divisions, armies, and district commands to sustain a long war. Yet this mass failed to produce decisive breakthroughs as Ukraine leveraged drones, dispersed defenses, and precision fires to blunt offensives; by 2024–25, the returns on mass diminished, with Moscow shifting toward infiltration tactics and smaller-unit assaults amid rising casualties and stretched logistics. The outcome is a larger, more mobilization-dependent force that NATO planners must reckon with, as Russia also expanded drone and deep-strike capabilities that could complicate future deterrence and defense.